The time frame is June through September of 1863. The characters were real people. The story follows the lives of five men who defended their homeland in America's most costly war. The novel is set in Northwest Georgia. A heavily researched book about brave people making their way through impossible circumstances, and about families torn apart. Their lives were not easy, and this event made life unbearable, and impossible to stay in their homes. The main character, Spillbsy Dyer, at thirty-five had to remain faithful in his duty as an officer, and resist the temptation to desert the Army, knowing his nearby family was in harm's way. Other characters were part of a mass movement by rail, of troops stationed in Richmond, Virginia and transported to Northern Georgia. They were among the ones who historian Mary Chesnut wrote about when she recorded, "At Kingsville, N.C., I caught a glimpse of our army. God Bless these brave fellows. Not one man intoxicated, not one rude word did I hear. It was a strange sight. Miles of platform cars-soldiers rolled in their blankets, lying in rows, heads covered and fast asleep. In their gray blankets, packed in regular order, they looked like swathed mummies. All these fine fellows going to kill or be killed. Why?" These men were part of the 132,000 soldiers who descended on the farm land of Northwestern Georgia, from all areas of this young country, in the drought ridden summer of 1863.